The present invention relates to devices and methods for providing user-specific connectivity, to a plurality of storage devices, for a plurality of end-users in a room.
In recent years, the information technology (IT) industry has been rapidly expanding. In an effort to provide significant benefits to the classroom environment, educational institutions have taken advantage of advanced IT tools to integrate computers into the mainstream of the learning process. Providing such technology within the classroom environment enables a teacher to: more easily distribute information to the students, receive information (such as homework assignments) from the students, identify each student, and check attendance, for example.
However, not many educational institutions can afford to provide a computer for each user in the classroom. Requiring students to bring their own computers to the classroom is impractical. Furthermore, in order to administer an IT course or lecture, an adequately-sized and -equipped classroom facility must be located and reserved. The appropriate IT facility must be installed in the classroom, and the computers must be initially configured to communicate with each other (e.g. via a local communication or via the Internet). Due to the complexity of the IT equipment, providing such equipment is costly and can take considerable time and effort.
Existing IT limit the computer-based learning processes to equip these educational institutions, such as classrooms, with a computer per-user. Even in cases where computers are provided in public educational institutions, the need to identify end-users in a room, and easily distribute and receive information to and from the end-users simultaneously, such that this information is personally provided to each end-user, is still apparent.
In the prior art, Chen et al., US Patent Publication No. 20070180181 (hereinafter referred to as Chen '181), teaches a USB interface provided with a host/device function and its control method. Wu et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,862,643 (hereinafter referred to as Wu '643), teaches a USB compound device for operating a plurality of devices by using the same USB logic circuit and the method for implementation thereof. Agarwala et al, U.S. Pat. No. 6,681,270 (hereinafter referred to as Agarwala '270), teaches effective channel priority processing for a transfer controller with hub and ports.
Ivan et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,832,271 (hereinafter referred to as Ivan '271), teaches systems and methods for monitoring and displaying I/O data for a plurality of I/O devices. Honma, US Patent Publication No. 20060212623 (hereinafter referred to as Honma '623), teaches a data control apparatus. All the prior-art references cited above do not teach methods for identifying the relative physical locations of storage devices engaged in a port hub, nor do they teach methods for mapping such locations to the logical identities of the storage devices.
In view of the present needs, it would be desirable to have devices and methods for identifying a plurality of end-users in a room, and personally distributing information to and from such end-users in an easy manner without requiring a complex IT facility.